Avathon Selected to Power an AI-Native Mining Operating Model for Barrick's North American Business

Strategic deployment of Avathon's Physical AI platform is building a fully connected, AI-enabled mining enterprise across Barrick's North American gold assets

PLEASANTON, Calif., Sept. 23, 2026 /CNW/ -- Avathon, a leading provider of Physical AI for industrial operations, today announced that Barrick's North American business has selected Avathon's Autonomy Platform as a strategic technology partner to transform its business.

The strategic partnership will connect data, operational knowledge and AI intelligence across the mining value chain, from exploration and mine planning through safety, production, processing, maintenance and supply chain. Avathon's Physical AI will give Barrick the ability to continuously analyze conditions, identify risks and opportunities, support decisions and enable action across critical mining operations.

"Mining has historically been organized around individual functions, systems and processes. The opportunity now is to connect those pieces into one intelligent operating system," said Pervinder Johar, Chief Executive Officer of Avathon. "Barrick's North American business is taking a fundamentally different approach by putting AI at the center of how the enterprise understands its operations, makes decisions and acts. This is the evolution from digital mining to an AI-native mining company, where human expertise and Physical AI work together across the entire value chain to drive safer operations, higher productivity, greater recovery and stronger returns."

Avathon's platform provides a common intelligence layer across operational systems and data sources. Its proprietary Computational Knowledge Graph connects assets, processes, people, constraints and operational data, while AI agents reason across that context to support decisions and coordinate workflows.

Initial applications of Physical AI are expected to include:

• Safety: Use computer vision and AI-based monitoring to identify hazardous conditions and unsafe behaviors, enabling earlier intervention and helping prevent incidents before they occur.
• Production and recovery: Connect ore flow, processing decisions, maintenance activities and operating constraints to improve recovery, reduce variability and increase throughput from mine to mill.
• Asset reliability: Monitor asset health to predict potential failures, recommend maintenance actions and improve coordination of repairs, reducing unplanned downtime and improving equipment availability.
• Supply chain intelligence: Connect asset health, planned maintenance, inventory, supplier performance and demand forecasts to improve material readiness, reduce supply chain risk and optimize working capital.
• Mine planning: Apply AI to operational data and constraints to improve planning and scheduling decisions and better align plans with real-world operating conditions.
• Exploration and growth: Apply machine learning to geological, operational and production data to improve exploration decisions and accelerate the conversion of geological opportunities into economic value.

"AI has the potential to change how a mining company safely operates at its core," said Mark Hill, President and Chief Executive Officer, Barrick. "Our ambition is to connect the entire value chain, from exploration through production, unlocking the full potential of our people to make better decisions, more safely. By combining world-class mining expertise with AI, we can improve safety, increase recovery and productivity, strengthen reliability and supply chain performance, and create a more resilient and disciplined operating model."

Avathon's approach combines AI with human expertise, with the platform providing continuous analysis, prediction, reasoning and decision support while Barrick's North American mining professionals retain operational judgment, accountability and control. This AI plus human intelligence (HI) approach is supported by internal governance and safeguards designed to ensure AI solutions are developed and deployed safely, responsibly, and with appropriate human oversight as their capabilities evolve.

Avathon's platform will provide Barrick with the opportunity to realize the benefits of these initial applications improving performance across its North American gold assets.

About Avathon 

Avathon is a leading AI provider of Autonomy for Operations, bringing Industrial AI into the physical world. The Avathon Autonomy Platform enables organizations to intelligently plan, orchestrate, and execute complex manufacturing, supply chain, and asset management operations by transforming data into knowledge. Designed to scale securely across industrial environments, Avathon improves asset performance and strengthens operational resilience. Learn more at www.avathon.com 

About Barrick Mining Corporation

Barrick is a leading global mining, exploration, and development company. Barrick's North American mining operations comprise a portfolio of long-life gold assets, including major operating mines, and growth projects across the region. Barrick shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol 'B' and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol 'ABX'.

SOURCE Avathon

Avathon Media Contact, Sean Rollings, [email protected], 650.740.7238